Much Ado About (Practically) Nothing: A History of the Noble Gases

by David E. Fisher

There are eight columns in the Periodic Table. The eighth column is comprised of the rare gases, so-called because they are the rarest elements on earth. They are also called the inert or noble gases because, like nobility, they do no work. They are colorless, odorless, invisible gases which do not react with anything, and were thought to be unimportant until the early 1960s. Starting in that era, David Fisher has spent roughly fifty years doing research on these gases, publishing nearly a hundred papers in the scientific journals, applying them to problems in geophysics and cosmochemistry, and learning how other scientists have utilized them to change our ideas about the universe, the sun, and our own planet.
Much Ado about (Practically) Nothing will cover this spectrum of ideas, interspersed with the author's own work which will serve to introduce each gas and the important work others have done with them. The rare gases have participated in a wide range of scientific advances-even revolutions-but no book has ever recorded the entire story. Fisher will range from the intricacies of the atomic nucleus and the tiniest of elementary particles, the neutrino, to the energy source of the stars; from the age of the earth to its future energies; from life on Mars to cancer here on earth. A whole panoply that has never before been told as an entity.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 2010

About the author

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Amy Sherman]

I was disappointed by this book. The title is misleading; I would call it a memoir rather than "a history" of anything. Chapters kept ending with the sentiment, "Our results were inconclusive and we couldn't really figure out what to do instead to get useful results...oh well, it was fun!" Which may be true and how science works, but it's not very satisfying, narratively speaking. I probably wouldn't have finished it if it weren't the only thing I had with me while traveling.

[Aaron VanAlstine · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are dozens of popular science books published every year. This particular book was interesting to a point but the title is very misleading. It's mainly a personal memoir of a scientist who did a lot a research measuring the ages of rocks using their nobel gas content. I kind feel cheated after purchasing it. There are some enlightening stories of the politics of tenure at elite universities but not enough to make me spend any more time on it. I may finish this someday but for the time being it's been shelved.

[Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is less about the noble gases than it is about the author. It should be classified as a memoir, rather than a 'history of'. The author is arrogant and self-absorbed. The science content is disappointing and dull (yes, even for a book about the noble gases). The author tends to drone on about his dinner parties and dancing, and is in the habit of name-dropping to the extent it's annoying. Don't bother with this book. I wish I hadn't.

[Mo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great writer, but I drifted off from time to time.